Green preparation of lightweight and elastic thermoplastic polyamide/polyester elastomer composite foams using supercritical CO2

Abstract

Green preparation of highly elastic foam is an effective strategy to reduce the cost of elastomers and broaden their application areas. In this work, thermoplastic polyamide elastomer (TPAE) was blended with thermoplastic polyester elastomer (TPEE) and chain extender ADR to improve the elasticity and overcome the weakness of easy tearing of TPAE foams. The results indicate that the melt strength of the blend was significantly improved with the use of chain extension. The foaming expansion ratio of the mixtures increased by 25 %, and the foaming recovery ratio reached 92 %. Mechanical properties showed that the maximum compressive stress of TPAE/TPEE foams was twice as high as that of TPAE, while the energy loss coefficient (11.38 %) was lower than that of TPAE at a high expansion ratio of 10. In addition, the resilience of TPAE/TPEE foams reached 73 % at an expansion ratio of 12.